Abstract:
Hepatitis B infection is one of the world's major infectious diseases. Health care workers (HCWs) have a high risk of occupational exposure to many blood- borne viruses including HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C viruses. This was Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted during January 2017, to detect Hepatitis B virus and to determine the possible association between Hepatitis B virus and selected risk factors among health care workers in Ad Douiem Teaching Hospital and selected health centres. Blood samples were obtained from eligible participants, sera separated by centrifugation and structured questionnaire was used to collect both demographic and clinical data. Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) technique was used to detect Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Ninety two (n=92) HCWs participated in this study, the males were 47/92 (51.1%) and females 45/92 (48.9%), 23/92 (25%) were vaccinated and 69/92 (75%) were not vaccinated. The sero-positivity was higher in female than male, and the infection according to occupational practice was higher among laboratory technologist 3/(3.3%) followed by laboratory attendant 3/(3.3%) and nurses 2/(2.2%). Three of the vaccinated participants were infected and the disease was more frequent in those who were exposed to an accidental injury during their work (4 out of 8 infected participants). Further studies with larger sample size are required to confirm these results.
